How to Adopt Internationally: A Guide for Agency-Directed and Independent Adoptions, Revised and Updated Edition for 2003

How to Adopt Internationally is organized around 23 easy-to-follow steps that lead readers through every phase of the international adoption process — from finding a reputable agency and organizing a home study to choosing a country to adopt from, working through emigration and immigration, traveling abroad, and adjusting to a new life with a child. The book includes detailed instructions for estimating the cost of an international adoption and also provides samples of almost all forms and documents parents will be required to fill out or provide including sample guidelines used to conduct a home study. The last half of the book provides up-to-date and in-depth information on the adoption laws and requirements for 68 child-placing countries including Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, China, Korea, Guatemala, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia. This latest edition also includes Internet addresses for finding important updates regarding international adoption on the World Wide Web including sites for downloading INS forms, contacting Embassies and agencies overseas, finding country-specific adoptive parent support groups, up-to-date travel information, and much more. This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to international adoption available anywhere.

Jean Nelson-Erichsen and Heino R. Erichsen are long-time experts in the field of international adoption and were among the first U.S. citizens to adopt children from overseas back in the early 70s. Since then, the Erichsens have committed their life to helping others successfully adopt foreign-born children. The Erichsens are founders of Los Ninos International, a nonprofit adoption agency in The Woodlands, Texas, and have placed more than 2,500 foreign-born children in loving U.S. homes. The Erichsens are the proud parents of three Colombian-born children, three biological children and several grandchildren.